An extraordinary discovery in Antarctica

Scientists say they have found a space rock from the Antarctic ages – an extremely rare meteorite that contains some of the oldest material in the solar system.

Maria Valdez, researcher at the Chicago Field Museum, she told the Chicago Tribune.

17 livres meteorIt was discovered on January 5 by an international team after an 11-day expedition.

The unusual rock, which contains material from billions of years ago, is one of the largest meteorites ever found on the continent and likely comes from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The Independent reported.

“To put the size of meteorites into perspective, of the 45,000 meteorites recovered from Antarctica over the past century, only 100 are this size or larger,” said the Chicago Field Museum, which was part of the expedition.

According to the Tribune, the snowmobile researchers had spent the better part of two weeks searching the ice fields for meteorites when they made the startling discovery just as they were about to conclude their exploration.

The researchers celebrate their extraordinary discovery.

Courtesy of Maria Valdes/SWNS

Close up of a rare space rock.

Courtesy of Maria Valdes/SWNS

They were reluctant to celebrate at first, Valdez said, “because we knew if we found a meteor, it was really the mother node. The last day, the last hour. »

The team became convinced that they had indeed found a rare space rock when members discovered that it was “about the size of a bowling ball but weighs twice as much as a bowling ball”, said Go to the newspaper.

The rock has what Valdes described as a “fusional crust” – a glassy outer layer that melted slightly when it entered the atmosphere. He was also worn, a sign that he had been on Earth for centuries.

The meteorite was sent to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Belgium for chemical analysis.

“All meteorites have something to say about Earth’s evolution,” Valdez said. “Size doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to meteorites, and even tiny micrometeorites can be incredibly valuable scientifically. »

Scientists from the United States, Belgium and Switzerland spent 11 days combing the icy continent for space rocks.

Courtesy of Maria Valdes/SWNS

The Independent noted that most of the 45,000 meteorites found in Antarctica over the past century weighed just a few grams.

The discovery came months after NASA’s success Destroyed an asteroid 530 feet in diameter In a test to prepare for the possibility of a huge space rock slamming into Earth and threatening it, like the 6.2-mile-wide asteroid scientists believe is wiped out dinosaurs millions of years ago.